Conventionally, as a pair of mutually connectable terminals, the female and male terminals disclosed in the Patent literature 1 have been well-known. The female terminal comprises a box-shaped main body in which an elastic contact piece is provided, and, in addition, provided on the surface in the main body which is opposed to the elastic contact piece is a receiving part protruding internally (to the side of the elastic contact piece). When a tab in the male terminal is inserted into the main body of the female terminal, the tab is elastically held between the elastic contact piece and the receiving part, so that both the male and female terminals are held in a conductive state.
[Patent Literature 1]: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-141927
Recently, as the development of hybrid vehicles progresses, more wires having greater diameters than the conventional wires are used. The flexural rigidity of wires becomes greater as the diameter of the wires becomes greater, and therefore, a greater restoring force works on the terminals when the wires are bent and arranged due to a narrower space, as compared with the conventional case of bending thinner wires.
Additionally, with respect to terminals having the configuration as mentioned above, for example, when a thick wire is twisted and arranged and a greater force in the rotational direction as compared with conventional one is worked on the terminals, the tab is tilted relatively to the elastic contact piece and the receiving part, causing a deviation in the contacting part, with a greater electrical resistance generated between both terminals. Such state might therefore affect the connection state adversely, and a countermeasure has been required.
This invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a terminal capable of maintaining a good connection state between terminals, even when a force from a wire is applied.